Tea Spot—More than a Spot of Tea
With its austere fountain plopped in the middle of honking Midtown traffic and the glassy Time Warner Complex, Columbus Circle is notably without warmth. So it’s nice to find a place where you can relax with what the British would call “a spot of tea,” and have some “SpecialTea foods.”
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Beyond Curry, in Curry Hill
When I first moved to New York City, all I knew about Indian food fit on the strip of restaurants on East 6th Street, which we joked shared a common kitchen. Visiting Curry Hill, I learned the difference between dosas and dhansaks, keemas and kormas. Judging by the over 125-item menu at Dhaba, I have a lot more to learn.
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Cubano Auténtico
A neon palm tree flashes outside the Times Square Havana Central while, inside, ceiling fans whir and classic Cuban music conjures up the atmosphere of Old Havana. However, if you really want a taste of Cuba and not just a brash approximation or killer mojitos, go across the street to this steamy sliver of a restaurant.
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Get Me to the Greek (Market)!
Can’t Greece catch a break? Their economy is in shambles and their soccer team was eliminated from the World Cup. However, who doesn’t fantasize about sitting in a Greek island taverna amid blinding white stucco houses, or dancing Zorba-style in the olive groves at an impromptu party? Read more
Blossomed Anew
Despite the influx of taco joints and pork-saturated dishes flooding restaurants these days, there is still a place for those seeking respite from animal proteins. Situated on the restaurant-heavy First Avenue, between East 79th and 80th streets, Café Blossom recently opened up its third location at what used to be a chicken shop (Eastside Poultry Inc., which moved to 1564 Second Ave.). Now, the food is all vegan, all the time. Read more
Eating up the ‘Candle Concept’
Amidst the brick high rises and blue scrubs of Weill Cornell’s residency students lives Candle Café, a beacon of light for the Upper East Side’s vegan community. Back in 1984, it was started as just a small juice bar, vitamin and sandwich shop, but with a $53,000 stroke of luck—the amount that owners Bart Potenza and Joy Pierson won in a 1993 drawing of the Take Five Lotto—their small veggie outpost was transformed into a vegan paradise with waitstaff. Read more
PERFECTLY PAIRED WINES
Hot on the trail of their immensely popular yearling, Dell’Anima, Joe Campanale, Gabriel Thompson and Bobby Werhane opened L’Artusi a few months ago, and their newcomer really hit the ground running. Campanale, who was sommelier at the venerated Babbo, and Thompson, who worked in such exalted kitchens as those at Le Bernardin and Del Posto, have the chops, imagination and follow-through necessary to create and maintain a highly successful restaurant. And L’Artusi proves that yet again. Read more
A BIG PLACE FOR A BIG DINNER
Steakhouses long ago earned a very special place in the hearts of New Yorkers, and the way new ones are appearing practically every week, that love shows no signs of waning.
In July 2005, Ben & Jack’s Steakhouse arrived in its enviable location just a block-and-a-half from Grand Central Station. But the restaurant feels as if it’s been in our midst for decades. Owned and operated with palpable pride by four brothers, Harry, Ben, Russ, and Jack Sinanaj, the restaurant Read more
SLEEK AMERICAN SEASONAL
Over the last few decades, there have been countless major changes in my neighborhood—the East Village, as it is now called—but few have startled me more than the transformation of a nearby rundown Laundromat into Apiary, a sleek and happening restaurant.
Chef/partner Neil Manacle and managing partner Jenny Moon brought in the French luxury furniture design team Ligne Roset to fabricate and furnish the Read more
LOUNGE-STYLE SUSHI
There’s plenty of great sushi in town, but there’s always room for more, especially if it’s as imaginatively prepared as it is at Rock-N-Sake. In fact, many of chef David Hoang’s handrolls are not available anywhere else.
The restaurant is co-owner Joseph Ulloa’s third edition of Rock-N-Sake. He opened his first in the posh warehouse district of New Orleans, but Hurricane Katrina clobbered that. Undaunted, he reopened the restaurant in Port Washington, Long Island, with great success. Teaming up with former Wall Street financier Richard Volpe, he opened a jazzy new rendition in Chelsea just a month ago. Read more
